Thursday, 20 September 2012

Rule 118

The traffic laws of Sharjah are legion and best among them is Rule 118, which states that it is illegal to part with your car reversed into the parking space. All parked cars must be placed backsides out to the road. Headlights must not be presented to passing traffic. You go in frontwards, in other words.

Today's papers carry the news, without even cracking a smile, that such seditious behaviour will result in a Dhs200 fine and three black points slapped on the offender's license. That's out of a total of 24, rather than the UK's stricter 12, so you can park backwards a few times before you lose your license.

Khaleej Times quotes Col. Ahmed bin Darwish, Director of Traffic and Patrols at the Sharjah Police, saying, “Drivers have to park their vehicles in the same way they are told to do while in driving schools. Street parking is not designed for reverse parking and those doing it cause inconvenience to other road users and the traffic in general as the driver has to first drive and then come backward while other cars on the road wait all the time.”

The move is part of a campaign to curb 'parking space abuse', we are told...

Alexander: I think there is some confusion. 'Backsides to the aisle' is mandatory, not forbidden.

Certainly this was always the case with angled parking, but 90-degree? I was taught it's easier to reverse in and drive straight out, but then I learned in an environment where it's more difficult to control a vehicle with a freezing cold engine.

These motorists who will now not have to wait while you manoeuvre backwards into the space will do what, exactly, as you attempt to reverse into high-speed traffic as you leave the space?

In Germany, it is quite common to ban reverse parking to prevent the wall behind getting dirty from the exhaust over time.

But to do it for safety reasons is crackers. Surely it is more dangerous to reverse out into the main road, than to be sitting visibly in the main road looking to reverse in. And given that you wouldn't have 90° parking on a "fast road" it is totally nonsensical.

You could also argue against revere parking for health reasons if there is a pavement behind. Although I find it hard to believe that any authority in the UAE gives a shit about emissions and their impact on the human lung.

Available from Amazon

Get booky updates, freebies and stuff from Alexander

Google+ Followers

Fake Plastic Souks

I write books, I consult on publishing, media and digital communications, I cook. I spend quite a lot of my time laughing and do try not to be a stick-waving, spittle-flecked angry old man. I fail in this occasionally.